US Grains Council : USGC Continues U.S. DDGS Promotion in Middle East, North Africa Region

The U.S. Grains Council's (USGC's) outreach program in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) promoting U.S. distiller's dried grains with solubles (DDGS) continued last month with feed consultants traveling to both Algeria and Egypt to meet with potential customers.

The Council's efforts in this region are focused on maximizing the U.S. competitive advantage for U.S corn, sorghum and co-product exports. A large number of countries and a changing market environment have pointed Council staff and consultants to new marketing opportunities, including for DDGS.

During this marketing year, U.S. origin sales have backed off due to higher global grain supplies, lower demand, economic uncertainty and a stronger U.S. dollar. The Council is responding to this shift in the market by reminding global customers of the true value of the U.S. brand.

U.S. DDGS are readily available and relatively low-priced, with no other competitor on the market offering significant quantities of the high-protein feed ingredient.

'By providing our customers with the information they need, we create a high-quality brand for U.S. corn co-products, like DDGS,' said USGC Regional Director for the Middle East and Africa Hesham Hassanein.

The consultant who traveled to Algeria assisted three feed milling companies with increasing the usage of DDGS in their feed rations.

'DDGS wasn't utilized in Algeria in the past due to high import duties and value-added taxes that were placed on the corn co-product,' Hassanein said. 'However, this has changed, and now U.S. DDGS are a relatively new product for Algerian end-users. The Council must promote the product and educate end-users how to utilize it in order to gain their interest.'

The consultant who traveled to Egypt promoted higher inclusion rates of DDGS in five key poultry companies' feed rations.

'Growth in the Egyptian poultry sector is expected to continue as both population and demand increases,' Hassanein said. 'The programs last month helped us demonstrate to these end-users that U.S. DDGS can be used as part of a nutritious but lower-cost feed ration and answer their questions in order to build their confidence in the product.'

Click here to read a past Global Update article on USGC DDGS promotion in the Middle East and Africa.